TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/030491/0304997.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 5.9 KB | 167 lines

                                                                                THE GULF WAR, Page 26

Reading the Fine Print



    Two weeks ago, Saddam Hussein issued a withdrawal plan
loaded with conditions that would permit him to pose as an Arab
hero. He demanded Israel's withdrawal from the occupied
territories and both war reparations and debt forgiveness for
Iraq. His latest offer had much narrower aims: to save his
military and his own hide. He hoped to have his army exit
Kuwait with as much hardware as possible. And to minimize
grumbling at home about the cost of his Kuwait adventure, he
sought a quick end to the U.N. embargo. But this time it was
the U.S., speaking on behalf of the allies, that had a few
conditions.


    1. IRAQI-SOVIET STATEMENT

    Iraq agrees to implement . . . U.N. Security Council
Resolution 660, calling for an immediate and unconditional
withdrawal of its troops from Kuwait to positions they occupied
on Aug. 1, 1990. The troop withdrawal would begin the day after
a cease-fire.

    1. U.S. STATEMENT

    Iraq must begin large-scale withdrawal from Kuwait by noon,
New York time, Saturday, Feb. 23, . . . Iraq must return all
its forces to their positions of Aug. 1, in accordance with
Resolution 660 . . . The U.S. and its coalition partners
reiterate that their forces will not attack retreating Iraqi
forces.

    1. "After you," says Saddam. "No, I insist," says George
Bush. "After you." Iraq wants a cease-fire to precede its
retreat. The U.S. wants things the other way around. Under both
plans, the Iraqis would be prohibited from massing their troops
just north of the border. On Aug. 1 the Iraqis had 100,000 men
near the border. Last week they had three times that many,
either near or across it.


    2. IRAQI-SOVIET STATEMENT

    The withdrawal would be completed within 21 days, including
withdrawal from Kuwait City within the first four days.

    2. U.S. STATEMENT

    Iraq must complete military withdrawal from Kuwait in one
week. Within the first 48 hours, Iraq must remove all its
forces from Kuwait City and allow for the prompt return of the
legitimate government of Kuwait.

    2. The U.S. wants to limit Iraq's take-home machinery. In
21 days Iraq could extract most or all of its military hardware
from Kuwait. Evacuating Kuwait City first would permit the
Kuwaiti government to take possession of the Iraqi retreat and
would lessen the risk of urban warfare.


    3. U.S. STATEMENT

    It must withdraw from all prepared defenses along the
Saudi-Kuwait and Saudi-Iraq borders, from Bubiyan and Warbah
islands and from Kuwait's Rumaila oil field.

    3. This is to dispel any hopes Saddam may have of holding
on to some of the choicest parts of Kuwait.


    4. IRAQI-SOVIET STATEMENT

    All POWS would be released and repatriated within three days
after the cease-fire.

    4. U.S. STATEMENT

    Iraq must release all prisoners of war and third-country
civilians being held against their will and return the remains
of killed and deceased servicemen. This action must commence
immediately with the initiation of the withdrawal and must be
completed within 48 hours.

    4. Baghdad still retains Iranian prisoners from the
Iran-Iraq war, which ended two years ago. The White House wants
no repeat of the Vietnam experience, in which American POWs
were bargaining chips and the fate of some MIAs is in limbo to
this day.


    5. IRAQI-SOVIET STATEMENT

    Immediately after the withdrawal from Kuwait has been
completed, . . . all other U.N. Security Council resolutions
would lose their meaning and would be lifted.

    5. U.S. STATEMENT

    Only the Security Council can agree to lift sanctions
against Iraq, and the world needs to be assured in concrete
terms of Iraq's peaceful intentions before such action can be
taken.

    5. The U.S. is reminding Moscow of a simple fact of life.
Washington, which could veto any rescinding order at the U.N.,
may want to retain the prohibition on trade with Iraq until new
embargoes are in place specifically forbidding military sales
to Baghdad. Although another resolution holds Iraq responsible
for financial losses resulting from its invasion, the U.S. does
not mention reparations, an issue on which the allies do not
yet have a clear policy.


    6. IRAQI-SOVIET STATEMENT

    Supervision of the cease-fire and troop withdrawal would be
conducted by observers or peacekeeping forces determined by the
Security Council.

    6. Under this provision, the allies, having forced Iraq to
retreat, would be deprived of the satisfaction of supervising
the withdrawal.


    7. U.S. STATEMENT

    Iraq must remove all explosives or booby traps, including
those on Kuwaiti oil installations, and designate Iraqi
military liaison officers to work with Kuwaiti and other
coalition forces on the operational details related to Iraq's
withdrawal, to include the provision of all data on the
location and nature of any land or sea mines.

    7. In addition to laying 500,000 mines across the desert
battlefield and hundreds more in the Persian Gulf, Iraq has
rigged Kuwaiti buildings and oil installations to blow.


    8. U.S. STATEMENT

    Iraq must cease combat air fire, aircraft flights over Iraq
and Kuwait, except for transport aircraft carrying troops out
of Kuwait, and allow coalition aircraft exclusive control over
and use of all Kuwaiti air space.

    8. A lid on air movement offers the side benefit of instant
reparations. There may be as many as 200 Iraqi attack
helicopters in Kuwait. If they cannot leave the ground, they
will have to be left behind.


    9. U.S. STATEMENT

    It must cease all destructive actions against Kuwaiti
citizens and property, and release all Kuwaiti detainees.

    9. This is intended to terminate Iraq's scorched-earth
policy and to secure the freedom of Kuwaitis arrested during
the occupation.